Model-airplane club to use CSUCI park for one-time contest

A model-airplane club that has been shut out of University Park near CSU Channel Islands for the past year will host a competition there this weekend.

The regional competition, which features aerobatics, will be open to the public Saturday and Sunday. About 45 pilots are expected to participate.

“We’re thrilled they’ve given us permission to hold this event,” said Richard Hodgson, secretary of the Channel Islands Condors. “We’re actively in negotiations to get the airfield reopened, and we consider this a friendly sign from the university.”

The Condors have been barred from the park since a fire broke out there in July 2012, the second in two years. At least one of the fires was sparked by a downed airplane, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal found that flying model airplanes there was dangerous. After receiving the fire marshal’s report, the university closed the park to the Condors last year.

The park, which has hiking trails but is largely undeveloped, is near the former entrance to the university, bordered by Calleguas Creek. Channel Islands acquired it from the county in 2009 with the idea of using it as a lab for students and parkland for the public.

This weekend’s competition is a one-time event that Channel Islands officials approved after checking with the fire marshal and clearing it with appropriate university departments, said Caroline Doll, special projects director.

The park remains officially closed after the Springs Fire in May burned about 75 percent of it, she said. The university has some cleaning to do before it is safe for visitors, she said, so the competition will be limited to a specific area.

“We want to make sure we haven’t missed anything,” Doll said.

Meanwhile, the university has hired a consultant to make recommendations on how the park should be used overall, she said.

“That’s pretty close to being ready for August,” Doll said. “Then we’ll figure out what our next steps are.”

This weekend’s competition will start at 9 a.m. Saturday with the aerobatic competition, which will end about 4 p.m. A freestyle competition will go from about 4 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

On Sunday, the aerobatic competition will run from 9 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m.